The South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced the first confirmed elephant poaching incident in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in well over ten years. The incident occurred in the Pafuri region, in the northern part of the KNP.
According to SANParks Rangers Corp Officer Commanding, Major General (Ret) Johan Jooste, fo...rensic evidence suggests that this elephant bull was purposefully shot for its tusks, which were hacked off and carried away by suspected poachers.
He said Rangers patrolling the area noticed footprints of approximately four individuals leading towards Mozambique leaving the park. “Upon further investigations, which involved backtracking, the rangers on patrol came upon the elephant carcass.”
Jooste said ballistic evidence found at the scene confirmed that the animal was shot. Investigations are currently underway.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer, Abe Sibiya, said that given the situation in the rest of the continent in relation to rampant poaching of elephants, we have known that it was a matter of time before South Africa got targeted as well. Though our focus has been largely on curbing rhino poaching we have also been preparing ourselves to fight the poaching of elephants as well.
“We are saddened by this latest incident but are confident that the dedication and efforts of our rangers and our partners in the security sector will eventually prevail over this malady”, said Sibiya.
Issued by:
South African National Parks Corporate Communications
Verity and Dean Cherry had an African dream in 1999 and started Nhongo Safaris® to eliminate the logistical challenges of international visitors on safari. We provide a once in a lifetime experience for wildlife enthusiast that demand quality overnight safaris in South Africa and most particularly the Kruger National Park. We want to enrich our visitors’ experience by providing Luxury Safari Packages or African Safari Holidays and maintain our position as leader in Kruger Park Safaris.
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The photo shows some of our fleet of Open Safari Vehicles used while on safari in the Kruger National and Hwange National Parks. These ve...
Friday, 16 May 2014
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Rhino Poaching Update
South Africa and Mozambique have identified a number of projects to assist with the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Management signed on 17 April 2014.
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Wednesday, 14 May 2014
On Safari With Karen from 12 May 2014
12 May 2014
Today was our first day. We entered the KNP through Phabeni
Gate and took a slow drive on Doispane. We spotted our first animals quite
quickly: red-billed hornbills, followed by a lot of other birds of the KNP.
Close to Nyamundwa Dam we saw our first mammals. A large herd of impalas was
hanging out with three wildebeest. Or the other way around, we weren't sure.
Either way, it was nice seeing these two species grazing together.
At Nyamundwa Dam we looked at a whitebreasted commorant sinking in the water, displaying why it's called a "snake neck bird" in Afrikaans. On the opposite shore was a crocodile sunning himself and at the far side we spotted some ears and nostrils belonging to hippos.
We continued our drive along Doispane seeing a nice big bull elephant feeding from a nearby bush and we encountered a lot more impalas. A small herd of zebras was grazing on the side of the road, with a mother shielding her tiny young from view. Then we stopped at a spot where another car stood and were amazed to see a young hyena and her babysitter out in the sun. The babysitter was clearly enjoying the bask outside as the youngster was intrigued by the cars but too scared to come close. It was a lovely sighting!
We turned off Doispane onto Watergat where we spotted more impalas, zebras, dwarf mongoose, kudus and various birds like yellow-billed hornbill, magpie shrike and Cape glossy starlings.
Back on the tar we followed Napi to Skukuza, our camp for this night. A large herd of elephants was feeding at Mathekanyan. We followed them for a while until they disappeared in the bush. Just before Skukuza we were surprised by a small troop of baboons with a tiny baby. The Mum was protecting it well, as she looked only a couple of days old the baby was still very uncoordinated.
We arrived at Skukuza after a very good start of this tour! Let's see what tomorrow brings.
At Nyamundwa Dam we looked at a whitebreasted commorant sinking in the water, displaying why it's called a "snake neck bird" in Afrikaans. On the opposite shore was a crocodile sunning himself and at the far side we spotted some ears and nostrils belonging to hippos.
We continued our drive along Doispane seeing a nice big bull elephant feeding from a nearby bush and we encountered a lot more impalas. A small herd of zebras was grazing on the side of the road, with a mother shielding her tiny young from view. Then we stopped at a spot where another car stood and were amazed to see a young hyena and her babysitter out in the sun. The babysitter was clearly enjoying the bask outside as the youngster was intrigued by the cars but too scared to come close. It was a lovely sighting!
We turned off Doispane onto Watergat where we spotted more impalas, zebras, dwarf mongoose, kudus and various birds like yellow-billed hornbill, magpie shrike and Cape glossy starlings.
Back on the tar we followed Napi to Skukuza, our camp for this night. A large herd of elephants was feeding at Mathekanyan. We followed them for a while until they disappeared in the bush. Just before Skukuza we were surprised by a small troop of baboons with a tiny baby. The Mum was protecting it well, as she looked only a couple of days old the baby was still very uncoordinated.
We arrived at Skukuza after a very good start of this tour! Let's see what tomorrow brings.
13 May 2014
Last night we saw vervet monkeys on our way to dinner as
well as all around our huts this morning so we were off at a good start. We had
also heard bush babies, hyenas calling as well as hippos overnight.
We drove down to Mathekanyan to watch the sunrise. Being the only car at the viewpoint we enjoyed the silence, the sound of various birds and the sunrise. While looking at giraffes through binoculars, the territorial call of a leopard nearby told us to get back into the car. It sounded quite close, but he didn't come to the top. We followed the direction of the sound while the leopard was calling again and again, but it only moved further away into the bush without us seeing the leopard.
We continued our drive down the H3, where we just saw the tail of a lioness disappear into the bush. We waited a while to see if she came out again but no such luck. While others were more patient we continued to have a leopard crossing the road just in front of us a little further down the road. Her playful cub shortly followed, catching us by surprise. He was very energetic and kept on jumping up out of the bushes so we saw them walking by. Following them from open spot to open spot in reverse, we had a great sighting of the playful cub and his purposefully ignoring him Mum.
We turned into S112 and briefly had stopped at some elephants feeding in the thick bush, when another guide came driving past saying the lions were out again. We turned around and this time passed the place where the leopards apparently were still occasionally showing themselves but not at the moment, so we saw a glimpse of a lioness through the bushes. While looking at her through binoculars she got up and moved behind another bush. We didn't see her back after that.
We decided to continue to the Skukuza Golfclub where we would have breakfast. On the way we also spotted kudus, a giant kingfisher, a grey headed bushshrike, a male bushbuck, a nyala and a Burchell's coucal. At the Golfclub the hippos were snoozing in the water and a couple of warthogs were grazing on the other side.
After breakfast we continued our game drive on the tar road towards Satara, passing the Sabie and Sand Rivers via low level bridge. We spotted two female bushbucks, had a nice hippo pop out of the river close to the bridge, some bateleurs and a giant cloud of marabou storks that took flight. Two white-fronted bee eaters were having a very loud squabble with two pied kingfishers about who was allowed to sit on a particular reed stalk and two Egyptian geese were having an even louder argument on their own about... who knows what!
On the tar road to Tshokwane we were lucky to see many animals: a fish eagle, lots of white backed vultures and two marabou storks bathing, plenty of flying bateleurs, two single male giraffes, a lone buffalo bull lying on the side of the river, kudus with a nice adult bull, a herd of female waterbucks and all that before we got to the Kruger Tablets. We were told about possible lions mating at this location so we waited around. Another guide had told us about the general location of the lions lying in the grass so we were guessing a bit until the male lion got up. He looked at the four vehicles standing, walked two paces, got us all excited and then... flipped sideways and went back to sleep. We waited for another 30min, but except for a slight head raise there was no more movement. The female...eish, we never saw a glimpse so who knows. If we have to wait for cubs from this pair, I think we are wasting our time as this male was either too lazy or definitely not in the mood.
Continuing to Tshokwane for a lunch break we spotted an elephant bull, zebras with impalas and giraffes all in one spot, plenty of lilac breasted rollers, cape glossy starlings and other birds, a hairy caterpillar and a steenbok that shot across the road.
After lunch we continued on the tar road to Satara, where the plots were already burned so it smelled of a large campfire. We spotted a lot of general game along the way and had a head to head with a large troop of baboons. Suddenly we are waved down by two cars standing on the opposite side of the road. Just before we get to a standstill a lioness comes out of the bush and crosses the road in front of us. Unprepared we watched without taking pictures, but then two more lionesses follow. They stand still in the road as if to pose, pass behind the other cars and then disappear into the wavy lion-yellow grass. 5 seconds later and we would have missed it all. The people in the other car told us there were six, in close succession, so we were very lucky!! And we got pictures to prove it too!
On the way we stopped at Mazithi Dam and Kumana Dam, looking at wooly necked storks and plenty other water birds, hippos half out of the water, a sunning crocodile, terrapins, and palm trees at the Sweni. We visited the southernmost baobab tree and continued to spot some wildebeest, loads more giraffes, plenty of zebras, another troop of baboons, a disappearing herd of elephants, golden orb spiders, whitebacked vultures drying up after a bath, a steenbok that stood still long enough for a photo, kudus, dwarf mongoose, and warthogs. We ended today with a lovely large elephant bull skimming off the water close to Satara, our camp for tonight.
We drove down to Mathekanyan to watch the sunrise. Being the only car at the viewpoint we enjoyed the silence, the sound of various birds and the sunrise. While looking at giraffes through binoculars, the territorial call of a leopard nearby told us to get back into the car. It sounded quite close, but he didn't come to the top. We followed the direction of the sound while the leopard was calling again and again, but it only moved further away into the bush without us seeing the leopard.
We continued our drive down the H3, where we just saw the tail of a lioness disappear into the bush. We waited a while to see if she came out again but no such luck. While others were more patient we continued to have a leopard crossing the road just in front of us a little further down the road. Her playful cub shortly followed, catching us by surprise. He was very energetic and kept on jumping up out of the bushes so we saw them walking by. Following them from open spot to open spot in reverse, we had a great sighting of the playful cub and his purposefully ignoring him Mum.
We turned into S112 and briefly had stopped at some elephants feeding in the thick bush, when another guide came driving past saying the lions were out again. We turned around and this time passed the place where the leopards apparently were still occasionally showing themselves but not at the moment, so we saw a glimpse of a lioness through the bushes. While looking at her through binoculars she got up and moved behind another bush. We didn't see her back after that.
We decided to continue to the Skukuza Golfclub where we would have breakfast. On the way we also spotted kudus, a giant kingfisher, a grey headed bushshrike, a male bushbuck, a nyala and a Burchell's coucal. At the Golfclub the hippos were snoozing in the water and a couple of warthogs were grazing on the other side.
After breakfast we continued our game drive on the tar road towards Satara, passing the Sabie and Sand Rivers via low level bridge. We spotted two female bushbucks, had a nice hippo pop out of the river close to the bridge, some bateleurs and a giant cloud of marabou storks that took flight. Two white-fronted bee eaters were having a very loud squabble with two pied kingfishers about who was allowed to sit on a particular reed stalk and two Egyptian geese were having an even louder argument on their own about... who knows what!
On the tar road to Tshokwane we were lucky to see many animals: a fish eagle, lots of white backed vultures and two marabou storks bathing, plenty of flying bateleurs, two single male giraffes, a lone buffalo bull lying on the side of the river, kudus with a nice adult bull, a herd of female waterbucks and all that before we got to the Kruger Tablets. We were told about possible lions mating at this location so we waited around. Another guide had told us about the general location of the lions lying in the grass so we were guessing a bit until the male lion got up. He looked at the four vehicles standing, walked two paces, got us all excited and then... flipped sideways and went back to sleep. We waited for another 30min, but except for a slight head raise there was no more movement. The female...eish, we never saw a glimpse so who knows. If we have to wait for cubs from this pair, I think we are wasting our time as this male was either too lazy or definitely not in the mood.
Continuing to Tshokwane for a lunch break we spotted an elephant bull, zebras with impalas and giraffes all in one spot, plenty of lilac breasted rollers, cape glossy starlings and other birds, a hairy caterpillar and a steenbok that shot across the road.
After lunch we continued on the tar road to Satara, where the plots were already burned so it smelled of a large campfire. We spotted a lot of general game along the way and had a head to head with a large troop of baboons. Suddenly we are waved down by two cars standing on the opposite side of the road. Just before we get to a standstill a lioness comes out of the bush and crosses the road in front of us. Unprepared we watched without taking pictures, but then two more lionesses follow. They stand still in the road as if to pose, pass behind the other cars and then disappear into the wavy lion-yellow grass. 5 seconds later and we would have missed it all. The people in the other car told us there were six, in close succession, so we were very lucky!! And we got pictures to prove it too!
On the way we stopped at Mazithi Dam and Kumana Dam, looking at wooly necked storks and plenty other water birds, hippos half out of the water, a sunning crocodile, terrapins, and palm trees at the Sweni. We visited the southernmost baobab tree and continued to spot some wildebeest, loads more giraffes, plenty of zebras, another troop of baboons, a disappearing herd of elephants, golden orb spiders, whitebacked vultures drying up after a bath, a steenbok that stood still long enough for a photo, kudus, dwarf mongoose, and warthogs. We ended today with a lovely large elephant bull skimming off the water close to Satara, our camp for tonight.
Photos and more coming soon!!
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Videos Uploded
New videos from the Kruger National Park have been uploaded to our Facebook page, Follow the link to like us and view the videos https://www.facebook.com/nhongosafaris
Monday, 12 May 2014
Poachers Update
Nwanetsi Rangers made contact with 2 suspected rhino poachers on 10 May 2014. During contact, both suspects were arrested. A .416 hunting rifle, ammo and equipment were recovered during the incident. On 11 May 2014, rangers made another contact with a group of 3 suspected rhino poachers. 1 suspect was wounded and arrested and the other 2 managed to escape arrest. A .458 rifle and ammo were recovered. The 2 suspects are currently being tracked towards Mozambique.
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